Make Believe in Miracles
by kickstartmyhart
Summary: Trunks has gotten engaged! Unfortunately, his happy news fills Bulma's head with doubts as to why Vegeta has never asked her to marry him. B/V, T/P, minor B/G.


**Make Believe in Miracles  
**

**Title: **Make Believe in Miracles

**Rating:** PG

**Pairings:** Bulma x Vegeta, Trunks x Pan

**Summary: **Trunks has gotten engaged! Unfortunately, his happy news fills Bulma's head with doubts as to why Vegeta has never asked her to marry him.

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately, I don't own Dragonball Z. I don't remember whether it's been confirmed if Bulma and Vegeta ever got married but in this story they haven't been. I also don't own the movie (or book) He's Just Not That Into You, which is where this story is based from – on the couple Beth and Neil. I felt their situation fit these two almost perfectly.

* * *

If, in his entire life, he were asked to pinpoint an off-key note, any detail which disagreed with the general pattern, he would surely have picked his relationship with Bulma Briefs.

In theory, they were so very drastically different that they should have learned to loathe each other. Clearly, he is all that the word "respectable" represents, being the prince of an entire kingdom, whereas she is all that it doesn't. He won't deny that her behaviour is sickening at best, utterly repulsive.

Somewhere along the years of their acquaintance, he convinced himself that he put up with her and her antics because it meant a place to live; to call home. He convinced himself that her skills would come in handy to help and maintain an environment in which he could become stronger than his rival.

But he knows it's only half-truth.

Fickle and sarcastic, he has no problem with lying and being underhanded to get whatever captures his fancy. He never bothers pretending to be something he isn't, which makes him oddly less of a liar in her eyes.

But there are some things he cannot deny.

She is pretty to look at, so it doesn't hurt taking a walk alongside her. Her company is amusing, because she always has something spectacularly hilarious to add to any conversation anyone is having in her presence, and she dishes it out both raw and crude, with a careless ease he both envies and resents. Life must be so much easier if you are a human woman.

He decides that he cares about her somewhat, despite her fierce disapproval of almost everything he does, and his relatively quiet mockery of everything she doesn't.

Being abandoned for another woman breaks one's heart.

But weirdly, oddly, out out of the blue, he is there for her. He is not trying to be. He never tries to. He doesn't ask questions. He doesn't even ask how she is. But that is what she needs. That is what she wants. Someone to argue with, someone to release her anger out on. It's always been like this, since the very first moment she met him. The very essence of her relationship with him resides in his habit to fill the empty spaces in her life. He systematically refuses to fit any role she might cast him, but flows through the cracks to fill the occasional blanks left by everybody else. Like Chaos Incarnate, he shifts according to his temporary mood. How he feels. What he thinks he needs.

And then, suddenly, she finds herself caring for him. Caring about him more than any other person in her life – and in a completely different way. She finds herself worried when hearing his spaceship's about to run out to fuel. She finds herself scared to death when it explodes under the amount of gravity he's training under. She finds herself waiting at his bedside while he recuperates. That day it hit her like a ton of bricks; she was in love with him, and had been for awhile now.

That day it hit him too.

Soon, somehow, they got much further than they ever had before. There was a night where they did things they could never take back, and did things they might never do again. It was a night where he let her into his heart, and loved her back in every possible way, something his pride would never allow him to admit. A son was born into their world, and years later, a daughter. They fell into a comfortable routine. Outsiders would call it nothingness, were they a couple? Were they not?, but to them it was something.

* * *

"Hello there."

Bulma smiled up at her psuedo-partner of several years, Vegeta, as he entered the kitchen after a gruelling workout in the Gravity Room. She was flicking feverishly through a black diary, peering closely at the calendar when she found it inside.

He grunted a 'hi' back in response and swung himself into a chair across from her, reaching into the fruit bowl to pick out an apple for a light snack.

"I just got off the phone with Trunks."

He surveyed her. She looked happy. Good news?

"And how's he doing?"

"Great!" her smile increased. "He and Pan are getting married!"

"Hn. Good for them."

She cocked an eyebrow. "You really think so?"

"Despite meaning I will be related to Kakkarot, at least she's part-Saiyan."

Bulma's smile faded a little as she looked at him. There was a lull in the conversation as her ocean blue eyes, suddenly filled with sadness, met his onyx ones and it was in that moment that he looked at her that he realised that she was beginning to age. Not that she was becoming any less beautiful to him, but he could notice the wrinkles beginning to form beside her eyes; the ones lining her mouth. Although he got older in number, someone who didn't know him wouldn't be able to tell. A day would come when she would die, likely before him, and then what? What would become of them? What would become of him? Finally, she spoke.

"So you think that's good but you don't think we're going against nature or anything by not getting married?"

He mulled over his answer, frowning.

"Pah! You and I are just two people who happen not to be married. It's a silly idea woman, you know that I..." he hesitated, _I love you _was so difficult to say. He had never said it to her, despite being in a, what you call, defacto relationship for years, "am fond of you. We're fine the way we are. Things do not need to change, especially for a rubbish Earth custom."

Bulma closed her eyes for a moment, and when she re-opened them, the sadness was gone.

"You're right. Sorry I ever asked, hon."

She never seemed to mind that he never called her cutesy nicknames back.

* * *

_**"Anyway, all my friends used to tell me about how things might work out with these dipsticks because they knew someone, who knew someone, who dated a dipstick just like mine. That girl ended up getting married and living happily ever after. That's the exception and we're not the exception, we're the rule."**_

_Vegeta and I aren't the exception, we're the rule..._

Bulma had recently been out for lunch with one of her girlfriends, and all she had to talk about was some 'exception' thing that a boy she'd met had informed her about. But when she actually thought about it, when applied to her scenario, she supposed it made sense.

She sighed as she walked in the front door. Down the hallway she could see two figures, one of them standing on a stepladder. As Bulma walked closer, she could see that the activity they were participating in was attempting to hang a painting that she'd bought a few months ago in an auction. The two people trying to hang it were her mother, Bunni, and, weirdly, none other than Vegeta. He was the one on the stepladder, a faint blush crossing his cheeks as he realised she was home. He was embarrassed she'd caught him trying to do something nice.

"Why are you hanging that?"

She asked as she stopped by his side. It was obvious but she needed him to say it.

Before he could reply, her mother let out a "oh! Bulma! You're home! I'll make some tea!" and skipped off into the kitchen.

When she left, he climbed down and turned to her, looking puzzled and said, "Because you asked me to. Months ago. I.. I mean, your mother, thought it would be... _nice_." Vegeta looked back up at it. "If you don't like it anymore, I could understand why – it looks like a female's left breast. It's rather vulgar, woman."

"No, no..." Bulma shook her head. "I love it. But just stop."

"Stop?"

"I want you to stop being nice to me – because I know you are, in your own obnoxious way – unless you're going to marry me after." At the shocked look on his face, she continued, "We've been together for a long time, Vegeta. We have two children together. You know me! You know who I am! You either want to marry me or you don't."

"Woman, where is this coming from?"

She looked sadly at the ground then back up at him.

"The place I've been hiding from you..." A pause. "Because I haven't wanted to seem demanding or clingy... so I haven't asked you. But I have to."

A tear rolled down her cheek.

"Are you ever going to marry me?"

Vegeta fell silent. He didn't know what to say; how to react.

The singular tear was followed by several more.

"I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry."

* * *

So. That was the story of how Bulma Briefs and Vegeta had split. The people whom had once doubted her relationship with him now offered their kindness and consolation. She had packed numerous bags and left, renting a small house out in the country so that the media didn't have a field day with the drama. Yes, she had left her partner in her house, and with her family. Bulma thought maybe he'd have trouble going out and living by himself in his own apartment. She knew very well that Vegeta could survive in the wild if he had to, but she didn't want him to - she didn't want him to have to resort to that.

Today was her son's wedding - the first day in months she would see Vegeta. Every time she had seen her parents or children, they had visited her, but not vice versa. Speaking of Trunks, his engagement to one of her best friends' granddaughter had been a short one, which is what led to the conversation the women were currently having in Pan and Trunks' master bedroom of their new house.

"So, what's with the rush Panno?" Her daughter, Bra, teased, as she fussed around Pan's hair. A hairstylist for a living, Bra was not going to settle for anything but perfection on her friend's wedding day. "You pregnant? Got a bun in that oven?"

"Oh my gosh! Pan! Do you?" Her grandmother, Chi Chi, looked excited.

"No!" Pan chuckled, amused. "We're in love you witches, that's what people do when they are in love. They get married!"

Everyone fell into an awkward silence as they all turned towards Bulma for a reaction. She had paused quite suddenly halfway through sliding her high heels on her feet.

"I'm really sorry, Bulma," An apologetic expression crossed Pan's features, "I didn't mean to."

Her future mother-in-law smiled wanly. "It's alright, Pan. Really. I've been through break-ups before and I've handled it fine! I'm sure people remember Yamcha! I'm perfectly capable of doing this and I can do it again."

"I'm..." she finally managed to slip her deep blue shoe on her foot, sighing heavily. "... fine. I'm fine."

* * *

The wedding had been simply amazing. Pan had been a picture of perfection - of beauty, of strength. Radiant. Although not particularly what one would call a 'girly girl', she had gone all out for her special day. She had been fitted in a pretty white strapless satin dress, with tiny-off-the-shoulder sleeves of lace, and the bustier adorned with little beads. Around her neck, to help polish the look, she wore a silver Erickson Beamon necklace that Trunks had given her for their one year anniversary. Her long raven locks had been curled and pulled up into an elegant hair-style on top of her head. A miniscule tiara held it all in place. Chi Chi, Videl and Bulma had presented her with a bouquet of blue delphinium flowers - "something old, something new. Something borrowed, something _blue_" - mixed in with white roses.

Bulma smiled to herself as she reminisced about the day's proceedings. A better daughter-in-law couldn't be had; she made her son happier than he'd ever been before. The saddest part about the day had not been every mother's fear - letting their child go for real - but the part where she had seen Vegeta. Awkwardly in a neatly pressed suit, he stood stiffly across the aisle from her in the role of one of Trunks' best men, avoiding her eyes. Her mind clouded, she traipsed into the hall where they were holding the reception in search of food. She'd just been so busy all day she hadn't had a chance to eat anything! As luck would have it, just as she neared the buffet table, an elderly friend of her parents' asked her to dance.

As Dr. Archibald twirled her around the room, she realised that he was actually engaging her in conversation as well - a conversation she didn't really want to be having.

"So, where's Vegeta?"

Bulma cleared her throat before answering. "We broke up."

A look of genuine shock crossed the doctor's face.

"No way! You guys were together for such a long time!"

"A little bit more than Trunks has been alive, actually."

He paused their dancing, looking deep into her blue eyes. "Bulma, I am truly deeply sorry for you."

It was then she felt a sudden sadness rip through her entire body - the worst feeling in the world. Just when she thought it had gone away, a huge wave had just crashed down over her and forced it to begin all over again. It was a deep pain that nothing or nobody could cure. It was emptiness. Loneliness. Hurt. Anger, all rolled into one. It would never go away. Every morning for the rest of her life, she was going to wake up, all by herself, and feel like she wanted to crawl back under the covers again. When she slept, she didn't know it was there. She felt hollow but she also ached at the same time. It felt like there was no hope. Like she had been left alone in the dark. It was like going from a state of happiness, of comfortability, of cosiness and peace, to a place of confusion and unfamiliarity.

Wordlessly, she excused herself from the dancefloor and made her way into the nearby bathroom. First checking to make sure no one else was in there, Bulma stared into the mirror, tears streaming from her eyes. As she gasped for air, for a release from her pain, her hand clutched around her throat in an attempt to get a grip on things and calm herself. Restraining her feelings only a moment later, she furiously wiped the tears from her eyes, regaining her composure. This was not the time or place to be feeling sad.

* * *

Hours later, as the last few people left the venue, she had begun tidying up. It could've been so much easier to just get a robot to do all the work, but Bulma thought that doing it herself would be a nice distraction from everything. People had offered to help. In fact, as she strolled around with a large black trash bag, throwing rubbish inside as she came across it, she watched Chi Chi and Goku on the other side of the room - Chi Chi was admonishing him for _something_, as per usual.

Although they had been together for far longer than she had even known _of _Vegeta, she had always felt that Vegeta had been a better partner and father. Sure, he had questionable parenting methods, but at least he had been around for their kids' lives - and all of the special occasions that came along with that: births, birthdays, school plays, musicals and activities, teacher-parent interviews and so much more. Even if he had never wanted to go, he had always still been there because it was important to them, and, important to her. This wedding only further solidified that fact.

These thoughts made her feel uncomfortable.

* * *

Bulma visited her home the next day, wanting to check in on her parents and see how they were doing the day after the wedding. It was like walking on a minefield - on eggshells. Every corner she turned, she was sure she would run into Vegeta. Perhaps a phone call would've sufficed.

The mother of two had to smile when she saw her beautiful daughter through the kitchen's glass doors lounging out by their large pool, sipping a pina colada, Goten in the chair beside her. Trunks and Pan were long gone on their honeymoon. The two young adults were laughing together. She almost hoped that another wedding was on the cards soon between them.

A large explosive noise distracted her from watching the peace of Bra and Goten. Fear leaping into her throat, she knew exactly where the noise had come from, and began pelting towards it. As Bulma reached the Gravity Room, the door opened and smoke came pouring out into the hallway. A figure emerged from all of the smoke - Vegeta. Covered in dust, with his hair slightly singed, he limped slowly out of the room and was startled by her sudden appearance. He finally looked her in the eyes for the first time in days; weeks; months.

"Woman."

"Vegeta, are you alright? Are you hurt?" was the first thing out of her mouth.

"Pah." He snorted, ever the warrior, as he removed his white gloves. "They're merely flesh wounds."

"What on earth were you doing in there?"

Now he refused to meet her eyes again.

"I was trying to fix it."

He had always commanded for her or her father to fix, tweak and upgrade the Gravity Room. She knew that once more, he was doing this for her and all of a sudden, Bulma's eyes welled with tears as she threw herself at him, propelling herself into his arms with great speed. Surprised, he simply patted her on the back.

"Woman, I'm still the same person I always was, I just can't give you what you want."

She pulled away, looking up at him.

"You are what I want. Our life together is what I want. I miss it. I miss you. I miss our kids and my family. You are more of a husband to me, not married, than Goku is to Chi Chi - more than any husband is ever going to be. It's enough. It's really enough."

"So," he mulled over the words. "You'd be willing to give up this silly Earth tradition?"

"Vegeta... you are... stubborn. Quite rude and very pig-headed." A smile. "But I am in love with you. If that's what it takes... then yes."

"Good." There was a pause. "Woman, I'm hungry."

Bulma laughed freely.

"Let me go say hello to my parents and then I'll go order us some Chinese food. 'kay?"

"Don't forget the egg rolls." was all he grunted in response.

* * *

When she entered the kitchen, takeaway food in hand - having just been delivered to their home - she was a little surprised to see Vegeta standing in the middle of the room. He was very still, the only movement being his onyx eyes as they followed her.

"...Vegeta? Are you okay?"

He cleared his throat loudly. He seemed nervous.

"I have been informed that the correct procedure for this is when I am kneeling."

He bent down so that he was partially kneeling on one of his knees. Bulma gaped at this action, her surprise intensifying when he next pulled out a tiny velvet-covered box from his pocket. She dropped the plastic boxes she was holding out of shock, some of them snapping open and spilling various assortments of Chinese delicacies all over the floor.

"What the... Vegeta?"

"Woma- Bulma," he corrected himself. "I am not the kind of man that makes extravagant speeches.. and I am certainly not the kind of man who can do this sort of thing with ease. But I will attempt it. Because I love you." Tears started to well up in her eyes. The first time he'd said it! "I want to make you happy. I must. I want to continue life with you, no longer merely as mates, but as husband and wife."

He opened the box carefully, revealing an oval-shaped sapphire ring. Resting on a gold band, the middle stone was also surrounded by fourteen - she counted - small diamonds in an elegant cluster setting. It was very... regal. Royal. Beautiful.

"Will you become my wife?"

"Vegeta!" she gasped. "Of course!" Bulma stood on a dim sum as she flung herself at him, almost bowling him over, but she did not care. He gently slid the ring on her finger and looked her in the eyes, a faint blush crossing his cheeks. She smiled, it was so cute to see him acting like a real human and not just a stuck-up Saiyan.

"But what happened to silly Earth traditions...?"

She had to know.

"You changed my mind." He looked away, his blush deepening. "Your mother also deemed it prudent to inform me that generally humans enjoy surprises better. I can't say I agree - I personally prefer knowing what is going on." His typical smirk. "However, you appear pleased."

"I couldn't be happier if I tried."

His smirk widened. He couldn't help but be full of pride.

"Good. Now can I get up off this god forsaken floor? Kneeling is quite unbecoming of a Saiyan prince!"

**

* * *

**

Although she had dreamed of a lavish wedding since she had been a child, they didn't have one. She figured that if he had sacrificed his pride to admit his feelings and even ask her to marry him, she could sacrifice something for him. She figured she wouldn't put him through the embarrassment of declaring his love for her in front of all their friends and family. Instead, it was just themselves and a minister in a quiet garden. Bulma wore a simple but classy white suit. Vegeta wore a blue button-up shirt and black trousers. She spoke freely and loudly of her vows. He um'ed and ah'ed his way through the ones he'd written himself.

It wasn't the wedding she had dreamed of, but once it was over, she wouldn't have had it any other way.

When they lay in bed together that night, he rolled over and looked at her directly in the eyes.

"I love you."

She smiled. "I know."

And she did.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Please please _please_ please read and review! I'm trying to get back into writing again and would appreciate peoples' thoughts on my work. This story has been in the works for a long time. I don't know if I like the ending or not, though. I was stuck for ages and ages on it. But I didn't want it to be anything over the top because I don't think that's the kind of people they are/were. In the end, I went with something simple.

I do feel that Bulma and Vegeta are one of the better couples in Dragon Ball Z. Although their story was never really focused on, it became blatantly obvious over episodes that Vegeta really did end up changing from the person that he used to be and became a better one with a family - one that he cared for. When I saw the movie 'He's Just Not That Into You', I did think of their relationship a little when I saw the characters of Beth and Neil.


End file.
